A pipette is arguably one of the most commonly used hand tools in a wet chemistry laboratory environment. Typically, a pipette is used to extract one or more sub-sample from a bulk container of fluid. (This disclosure will generally make specific reference to a pipette tip, in an attempt to distinguish the removable tip over the pipette instrument itself). Pipettes are commercially available in various configurations that may be used repetitively to extract and dispense precisely metered quantities of fluid. Commercially available pipettes include both hand-held models and bench-top models that may be variously automated, or robotically controlled.
Recent United States patents disclosing various pipette devices include: U.S. Pat. No. 7,448,287 to Daniel et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,438,861 to Hochstrasser et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,434,484 to Belgardt; U.S. Pat. No. 7,416,704 to Scordato et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,182,915 to Bullen et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,997,062 to Cronenberg; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,664 to Bevirt et al. All of the above-referenced documents are hereby incorporated by reference, as though set forth herein in their entireties, for their disclosures of relevant technology and various pipette arrangements.
Certain sensing devices that may be employed in selected aspects of the instant invention are disclosed in the co-owned International patent applications serial No. PCT/US 09/02172, filed 7 Apr. 2009, titled “METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A MICROFLUIDIC SENSOR”, and serial No. PCT/US 08/11205, filed 26 Sep. 2008, titled “INSTRUMENTED PIPETTE TIP”. Details of construction of certain relevant devices structured to detect Stokes-shift phenomena are disclosed in co-owned International Patent application serial No. PCT/US 08/13003, titled “FLUORESCENCE-BASED PIPETTE INSTRUMENT”, and filed on 21 Nov. 2008, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/004,630, filed Nov. 27, 2007, for “Fluorescence-based pipette instrument”. All of the above-referenced documents are hereby incorporated by reference, as though set forth herein in their entireties, for their disclosures of relevant technology.